Should red meat be taxed?

More and more countries are opting to introduce sugar taxes. From The Oxford Martin Future of Food project, which aims to “develop the first integrated model of environmental sustainability, health and economic development”, comes a new study calling for a ‘meat tax’ to be introduced claiming it could save thousands of lives and reduce future healthcare costs. However, criticisms of bias have been made given that the lead author of the study, Dr Marco Springmann, is vegan. At ANH-Intl we believe that whatever dietary regime an individual adopts it should be one that’s largely plant-based, sustainable and based on sound agroecological practices both in animal husbandry and plant crop production.

Asia increases focus on sustainable farming

Pressure from consumers on food manufacturers to implement more sustainable practices is growing. In response to these growing concerns, PepsiCo has announced a substantial investment in sustainable agriculture in India over the next three years under it’s Sustainable Farming Program. Alongside this, a new study has introduced the Dietary Species Richness indicator encouraging food manufacturers to increase the diversity of the foods they use. The indicator can also be used to drive investment in more sustainable farming systems. A separate project from the independent international research centre, Crops For the Future, is studying native Malaysian crops such as Kedondong and the Bambara groundnut as alternative ingredients to the big four – soy, wheat, maize and rice. ANH-Intl has long supported sustainable farming practices as the way forward in order to safeguard the human food supply.

EU retracts seed patent

The arrival of the commercial seed industry has resulted in attempts to remove seed ownership from farmers. In November 2016 the European Commission adopted a notice clarifying that plants bred using natural husbandry are not patentable. Prior to this in 2013, Monsanto was granted a patent on severed broccoli, bred to grow slightly taller to make it easier to harvest. The patent was contested by a coalition of organisations in 2014. That patent has now been revoked by the European Patent Office (EPO). This gives new hope to all farmers who rely on seed saving and sharing, which is the most basic and critical input for sustainable agriculture.

The HPV crisis – real or manufactured? New film release

Today sees the release of a new documentary film from the Alliance for Natural Health across the UK and Europe questioning claims made by health authorities that the HPV vaccine is both a safe and a guaranteed method of preventing cervical cancer. This comes at a time when – flying in the face of independent science – the UK announced its intention to extend the vaccine’s use to include teenage boys and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its use for adults aged 27-45 years. ‘Manufactured Crisis: What they're not telling you about the HPV Vaccine' exposes cases of severe, life-changing adverse reactions experienced by girls and young women following HPV vaccination – cases from which the public has previously been shielded. Recorded adverse reactions include severe disability, paralysis and even death. Throughout Manufactured Crisis, victims and their families tell their own, often heartrending, stories. The film can be viewed here. Additionally, an open letter has been published by Sanevax calling on the FDA to conduct further investigations into the safety of this contentious vaccine. At ANH-Intl we encourage individuals to make informed choices when it comes to vaccinations, particularly when it involves a vaccine as controversial as the HPV vaccine.

Hair analysis highlights pesticide contamination problems

Testing of hair samples collected from 6 EU countries (Denmark, Germany, UK, Italy, France and Belgium) between end of July and October 2018 has detected pesticide residue in 60% of those samples analysed. The most detected chemicals were the insecticides fipronil, permethrin and chlorpyrifos-ethyl along with the fungicide propiconazole. Many of these chemicals are known endocrine disruptors (EDCs) which have significant impacts on human health. You can find more information on how to reduce your exposure to EDCs here.